Adaptation between the School Context in the Francophone Educational Sub-System of General Education in Cameroon and the Learner's Entry into the World of Employment: School Guidance

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the French-speaking sub-system of general education in Cameroon, with the aim of proposing a Cameroonian academic system now equipped with an orientation pedagogy capable of valuing the different local potentials that can suddenly accelerate the emergence of the country. To carry out this study, numerous investigations were made in the field. The plentiful results obtained have been carefully analyzed. The orientation of learners in Cameroon is not done on the basis of their real potential, but rather on the basis of foreign languages; these are German, Spanish, and Chinese. At different levels, we see an overload of learners with subjects which, instead of reinforcing them in what they would like to do in life, rather demotivate them. Learners finish their respective courses with a full head, without any skills. The informal sector is the only environment where they can earn on a daily basis. The practice of trades in this sector is responsible of many urban disorders observed today in the cities of the country. This urban disorder is almost always the precursor of many accidents, sometimes resulting in the death of men. For young people who did not have the courage to engage themselves in informal sector activities, crime, drug abuse, violence, homosexuality, the search of "sugar mummy and daddy", " gigolo habit ”, illegal immigration, prostitution, to name but a few, are the main routes out. The following path is proposed for the new orientation vision in Cameroon: Observation sub-cycle (first and second year), Orientation sub-cycle (third and fourth year artistic, third and fourth year literary, third and fourth year science), Specialization cycle (fifth year artistic, fifth year literary, fifth year science, sixth and seventh year artistic, sixth and seventh year literary, Sixth year applied sciences, sixth year fundamental sciences, seventh year applied science, seventh year fundamental sciences). The new vision of managing the French-speaking sub-system of general education in Cameroon highlights a new reality; in fact, from the orientation sub-cycle, the teaching units will be preparing the corresponding trades. Cameroon has many assets to succeed in this process.

A New Assessment Approach for High School Students in Cameroon

“…The advantages of this vision later decided Fopoussi Tuebue (2023d) to integrate this approach into the entrance examination to secondary school; indeed, he justified this action by emphasising on the necessity of a child entering secondary school to realize that the different knowledge received years ago are tools to be used jointly when facing difficulties. This is in perfect agreement with the statement of Fopoussi Tuebue (2021b) who insists that the education system in Cameroon must be readapted to make young people feel more comfortable when schooling. If one can see the advantages of such a vision, we nevertheless remain worried when stopping the behavior of the pupils of the classes not sanctioned by an official examination at the end of the academic year in secondary education in Cameroon; these are the Fifth year class in the Francophone Subsystem and the Lower Sixth class in the Anglophone Subsystem.…”

“…In these different cases, it appears that it is mandatory for the learner to be able to make an undeniable link between their different knowledge (Deschamp et al, 2015;Perrenoud, 1997). In this sense, (Fopoussi Tuebue, 2021b) has shown that if the approach led by the teacher does not allow the learner to take the measure of the importance of interdisciplinary in his process of learning, it is now rightly necessary to open in front of him a canvas through which he will have to move in other to discover and then install in his mind the notion and the importance of carrying out interdisciplinary actions in his academic environment from the outset, then in his daily life in a second time. The need to attempt such a manoueuvre is all the more essential since in the contemporary world, the young person, to get out of it, will have to, even unconsciously, constantly find themselves at the crossroads of many knowledge, both divergent and convergent, that he will have to be able to combine to make his way through the inextricable tangle of difficulties that punctuate the daily life of the human community.…”

“…Considering these facts and considering the seven years of CBA application in Cameroon, it would be interesting to make an inventory to assess the seriousness of the evil. We can then try to propose local amendments (Fopoussi Tuebue, 2021a), or even local or complete restructuring of the Cameroonian education system (Fopoussi Tuebue, 2021b), to enable young Cameroonians to profit from the benefits of the skills-based approach truly. The need to carry out such action is all the more important since today, young people from all sides are called upon to meet (Benassy-Quere et al, 2019).…”

“…If one can see the advantages of such a vision, we nevertheless remain worried when stopping the behavior of the pupils of the classes not sanctioned by an official examination at the end of the academic year in secondary education in Cameroon; these are the Fifth year class in the Francophone Subsystem and the Lower Sixth class in the Anglophone Subsystem. Indeed, it has been observed that regularly, a significant proportion of pupils, however brilliant until the end of the Orientation Sub-cycle, become weak as if by a miracle; for them, it is a class where resting is allowed (Fopoussi Tuebue, 2021b). Given this situation, the need to think about an approach that will allow students who reach those respective levels of study to strengthen and no longer relax in their dynamism arises with acuity.…”

Situation of the Practice of Mother Tongues in Cameroon and Proposal of Methods Aimed at Facilitating Their Learning

“…In the courses included in the teaching programs, we can note the appearance of other foreign languages; we can mention among others: German, Chinese, Spanish, among others [19]. These languages from elsewhere have even become for a very long time the basis of the guidance of young Cameroonians in general education who present themselves at the entrance to the orientation sub-cycle [20]. The curiosity at this level always lies in the indecision of the decision-makers to choose, even at the level of each district, a language of the mother tongues most spoken in the sector, so that it is included in the programs of teaching, and as a result, endowed with a large coefficient; the same is true for national culture.…”